26/12/2020
Why is a quality protein supplement such an important part of equine athletes daily diet?
Muscles are made from protein, and protein is made from 21 building blocks called amino acids put together in chains. Your horse’s body has the ability to create 12 of these amino acids they are nonessential amino acids.
The remaining 9 amino acids are known as essential amino acids’ and must be present in your horse’s daily diet.
Furthermore all 21 amino acids must be present in the correct quantities, so a horse has enough of each of amino acids to build, repair and recover muscle fibres. If a horse runs out of any of these essential amino acids because there is not enough being fed in the diet, then muscle construction simply cannot take place, until the amino acids are available again in the correct quantities.
To keep it simple think of amino acids as different colour beads. The protein is a string of these different coloured beads hooked together in a set formula
Think of building a bead necklace using a colour pattern with the repeating sequence pink, yellow, green repeat pink, yellow, green. If you run out of pink beads, the necklace pattern cannot be completed.
Building a protein chain is exactly the same! If a horse runs out of one or more of these essential amino acids, then muscle building stops.
Interesting Fact: Next to water, protein is the most abundant substance in all body tissues from your horse's’ brain to his/her hooves and therefore your horses Protein Requirements are much more than just muscle tissue.
For more information visit our website or contact us directly
www.equidae.com.au
info@equidae.com.au
